


Soulmates

by sugarsweetsunshine



Series: Pegoryu Week 2020 [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Pegoryu Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:35:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25829044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarsweetsunshine/pseuds/sugarsweetsunshine
Summary: One day, when you reach a certain age, you wake up and find the mark of your soulmate on your wrist. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you find your soulmate, sometimes you don't. Sometimes your soulmate isn't even the one you spend your life with.Akira spent his whole life wondering who his soulmate was and where life would take him to find them. Now that he's been sent to Tokyo on probation, his hopes of finding his soulmate have dwindled with the stain on his record.And then he happens to meet his soulmate the very first day of school.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: Pegoryu Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874080
Comments: 6
Kudos: 108





	Soulmates

**Author's Note:**

> It's babey's first pegoryu week :3
> 
> please note, I fully intended to have the whole week's prompts fully written out and finished by the time the week actually rolled around so that everything was all neat and ready.
> 
> this did not happen. i got a little busy and lost track of time so i managed to finish the day 1 and day 2 prompts so i can say that those will be uploaded on the correct days. i do fully intend on writing the other prompts but be warned that they just might not end up being posted the day of.

When Akira’s soulmark showed up on the day of his sixteenth birthday, he didn’t know what to make of it. 

He’d spent maybe the whole day just looking at it; gently running his fingers up and down his marked skin and trying to decipher what it could be. They always said that as soon as you got your mark, everything would become clear. But he wasn’t a kid anymore and he didn’t know who to ask for any clear answers since there were none. It was always said that you would know who matched your soulmark when you met them; there was always _something_ that fit the last piece of the puzzle. The trick was just finding out what.

He’d spent hours upon hours just staring, gently tracing the black outline with the tips of his nails. A silver skull. But not the whole skull; just the upper half of a skull, with sharp, almost inhuman canines. With sharp, precise indents and details. It was so intricately detailed and yet Akira memorized everything about his soulmark.

He had no idea what it was or what it symbolized, but if this was the key to finding his soulmate then Akira loved it with all his heart. He’d dreamed of finding his soulmate all the time when he was a child, head filled with innocence and the romanticized views that painted a rose-colored hue over everything. 

It was when he got older that the idea of having a soulmate both excited and terrified him. Because there was no guarantee that the person you spent your life with would be your soulmate. Even though they always said that fate was absolute and you could never choose who your partner was, some stories never got the happy ever after they deserved. Some soulmates were just incompatible with each other, even though fate led them to each other. Some simply fell in love with another who wasn’t their soulmate, leaving their intended alone to pine hopelessly for someone who would never reciprocate. Some were simply born without a soulmate and that was considered to be the worst of all.

Akira was both happy and afraid at the thought of his soulmate. He wondered who it could be, if it was a boy or girl, when he would meet them, how did he know they were his soulmate. So many questions, so much anxiety. 

For years, his teenage mind focused on nothing more than school, his studies, and his soulmate. Until he chose that one night to be out after dark and tried to do the right thing, only to be punished for his nonexistent misdeeds. Until his things were packed up in a small cardboard box and shipped off to the city with him following not long after. Until his whole world turned upside down with the knowledge that he was now branded a criminal and he didn’t know what was right or wrong anymore. 

The night before he was shipped off to Tokyo, he spent most of the night just rubbing his soulmark with his thumb. Wondering if his soulmate would be disappointed now to have _him_ as their intended. Wondering if he was going to end up alone and rejected by the one who was supposed to accept him the most. 

Meeting Ryuji was the highlight of his otherwise shitty morning. Woke up to a spider crawling over him from the cobwebs in his ceiling, getting lost in the subway station, getting caught and soaked in the rain. That pretty blonde girl seemed nice and Akira wanted to try to spark up a conversation but he couldn’t think of anything to say. All of a sudden, the girl was climbing into the car of a man that gave off the most suspicious vibes Akira had ever felt in his life and then an entirely new blonde entered the fray by running up and cussing out the teacher as said teacher drove away.

The boy seemed a bit thuggish at first before he realized that Akira was just a transfer student and decided to walk to school via a shortcut so they wouldn’t be late. Akira just vaguely wondered if his confusion and ignorance of the city was being too obvious.

Then it turned into an entire spiral of confusion and fear. First the castle, then the guards, then the gym teacher wearing a cape, a crown, and a pink speedo (Akira would need therapy to get that image out of his head but that sounded too expensive so he settled on pushing it back to the farthest corners of his mind and repressing it), and the cherry on top was enduring the most awful pain he’d ever felt in his life and awakening to his ‘other Self’.

Arsene made him feel powerful, more in control than he’d ever felt. Arsene understood his wants and needs of fighting back, of proving that he could do more than just sit on the sidelines and not let anyone push him around anymore. All those shitty adults who judged him, told him that he deserved his punishments, telling him that _he didn’t deserve a soulmate._ Arsene promised to help fight back and Akira would be forever grateful.

It was only until after the battle was over that he remembered that Ryuji had been there too. He was still pressed up against the wall, a bit bruised and shaken up. His eyes were as wide as saucers and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water in an effort to even say anything.

“W-What was…” He’d mumbled after what felt like ages. Akira almost felt bad that he had frightened Ryuji but neither of them had the time to stop and chat about it.

The one thing Akira never noticed was how transfixed Ryuji was on his mask. Whenever he wasn’t looking, Ryuji’s eyes were glued to the black and white domino mask affixed to his face. And his wrist burned with the need to touch the mark on his skin that was nearly an exact copy of the mask Akira wore.

Then there was Morgana, some more soldiers in armor trying to kill them, and so much more to deal with. But they both agreed that Kamoshida needed to be exposed and they needed to help the volleyball team whether they liked it or not. And Akira didn’t know if it was because Ryuji was the first person who was genuinely nice to him in a long time or if there was something else that drew him to the blonde punk but there was something inside him that just couldn’t say no when Ryuji asked. 

It was also the same thing that wouldn’t allow him to see Ryuji hurt. Kamoshida’s words made Akira’s blood boil and watching Ryuji fall deeper and deeper into despair as a result made his heart ache. It was why he yelled out for Ryuji to stand up for himself, to not let Kamoshida win and to get his life back from the asshole that ruined it.

Ryuji’s screams of pain were forever seared into his mind but he felt time stop as soon as the silver skull mask burst into blue flames and affix itself onto Ryuji’s face. The same silver mask that had marked Akira’s wrist and the same shape that he had memorized over countless hours just staring at it and wondering. There was no possible way for him to mistake that mask as anything but his soulmark.

The next few minutes were nothing but a blur of adrenaline and Akira’s thoughts racing at a mile a minute. Ryuji’s Persona decimated Kamoshida’s shadows and he could see the pure unadulterated joy on Ryuji’s face as he finally took his chance to fight back against the man who ruined his life. The shadows screamed and disappeared into black mist and Ryuji was bent over, hands over his knees and panting like he’d finally gotten his head above the water. 

Even though both Akira and Ryuji were ready to finish Kamoshida right then and there, the abrupt appearance of that blonde girl in Akira’s class along with a whole group of shadows converging on them forced them to flee. The adrenaline was wearing off now and by the time they returned to the real world, Akira was about ready to collapse and sleep for the rest of his probation.

But when Ryuji smiled and asked him to grab a bite to eat with him, Akira couldn’t find it in him to say no. Soulmark or not, Ryuji already had Akira wrapped around his finger. And vice versa.

They spent a long time in that beef bowl shop. Trading stories of each other’s past and sharing sympathy. It made Akira feel happier than he’d like to admit that Ryuji reacted with such outrage to his story of his arrest. It was refreshing to have someone be on his side for a change. 

But every time Ryuji looked away, the mark on Akira’s wrist burned with the need to touch it. Sometimes people said that your soulmarks would react when near your soulmate and Akira wanted nothing more than to trace over the edges of the silver mask like he always did whenever he was nervous or anxious. 

There had been no mistake; Ryuji Sakamoto was his soulmate. The only problem now (ignoring the whole ‘fighting the other version of his gym teacher in an alternate world’ problem) was deciding on whether or not he should tell him. 

What if Ryuji was too weirded out by finding out he was his soulmate so soon after they’ve just met? What if Ryuji had a different soul mark? They were so young, what if it didn’t work out between them? What if they were too distracted by the Metaverse to think about their relationship? What if Ryuji just didn’t _want_ a relationship? All of Akira’s thoughts until arriving in Tokyo had been finding his soulmate and being happy. What if he could never find that happiness? What if he couldn’t make Ryuji happy? What if-

“Akira. Hey, Akira.” Ryuji’s voice knocked him out of his downward spiraling thoughts and Akira looked up from his bowl of rice and meat to see Ryuji looking at him with his eyebrows furrowed in concern. “You alright, dude?”

Akira swallowed to soothe his dry throat and nodded, not trusting his voice at all. He looked back down at his food, chopsticks swirling around in the rice as he contemplated eating, when he heard Ryuji clear his throat to get his attention again.

“Okay, so… I know we’ve already dealt with a lot of weird shit today but there’s something I…” Ryuji trailed off awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck with one head. Akira idly noted how cute he looked while doing so. “Look, man, I-I don’t think I could keep this from you if I tried so I’m just gonna come out and say it and… I don’t know, we’ll deal with it, I guess.”

Ryuji took a deep breath and turned in his seat to face Akira. His face looked serious and nervous at the same time and it only made Akira’s nerves more frantic. Ryuji lifted his arm and Akira noted for the first time just how unkempt Ryuji’s school uniform was. The school was lucky Ryuji even wore the jacket anymore. The sleeves were rolled up to his upper arms and his wrists were covered by bracelets.

Akira saw Ryuji hesitate before bringing his free hand up to fiddle with the bracelets, and Akira noted his fingers shaking. Ryuji finally tugged his bracelets off his wrist and revealed the skin underneath.

Along with the black and white mask marked into his skin. A mask that looked like an exact replica of his mask in the other world.

For what felt like hours but must have been seconds in reality, Akira could do nothing but stare. He honestly wasn’t even sure if he was breathing anymore. All the noise and chatter in the restaurant faded into white noise.

“Um, Akira?” Ryuji’s voice cut through the silence but Akira was still awestruck by the mark on Ryuji’s wrist. “L-Look man, if it makes you uncomfortable, we can just-”

“No!” Akira didn’t mean to shout and he couldn’t see them but he could _feel_ the eyes of several people turn to look at them. His cheeks immediately flared pink with embarrassment but he tried to regain at least a fraction of his dignity.

“N-No, I… I’m not upset or anything. I-It’s the opposite, in fact.” At Ryuji’s confused look, Akira decided to just bite the bullet.

He held out his arm and rolled up his jacket and shirt sleeve to expose his wrist. The burning itch he had been feeling had only tripled in intensity over the past minute or so but Akira resisted on touching it.

Ryuji’s eyes widened as soon as he looked down. Maybe subconsciously, he brought his arm closer to Akira’s until their arms were practically touching, their souls marks lining up together.

“Holy shit.” Ryuji mumbled, eyes affixed to the skull mask on Akira’s wrist. “Holy shit, Akira!” His face instantly lit up with a bright smile and his brown eyes twinkled with excitement and from the lights above them. “We’re… We’re soulmates.”

Akira smiled and laughed, Ryuji’s giddiness practically infectious along with his own joy. To think, him getting arrested not only put him in Tokyo and dropped him into a weird alternate world filled with monsters and myths, but he also ended up meeting his soulmate on his first week.

“So, you’re okay with this?” Akira asked shyly, still unable to keep a little smile off his face.

“You kidding?! I meet the coolest guy in Japan and he just so happens to be my soulmate. Of course I’m okay!” Ryuji’s arm wrapped around Akira’s shoulders and he brought him in close for a side hug, practically squeezing him as hard as he could. The mark on Ryuji’s wrist touched his skin and Akira felt the most amazing, warm feeling he’d ever felt. 

Ryuji’s words just made Akira’s face darken in color. He tried to hide it in his collar but his cheek just brushed against Ryuji’s wrist and there were no words to explain how happy he was in that moment.

The rest of their meal was spent with their hands clasped together on the table, occasionally one gently touching the other’s mark with their thumb or fingers. It was amazing how one afternoon could change them so much. They’d woken up that morning as nothing more than friends who had bonded over a near-death experience. And now, knowing that they were soulmates, it changed everything. 

Akira had once been afraid of meeting his soulmate; his mind had filled him with depressing thoughts of his true love not being what the stories and fairy tales spoke of. Of constant ‘what ifs’ and theories that always ended up with him being alone or rejected or just in a constant chase to find his true soulmate. When he had been sentenced and sent away, those fears plagued his mind and the poisonous words of his family and classmates followed him like storm clouds all the way to the city. 

Ryuji had had it drilled into his head that he would never be good enough for his soulmate. His father’s disgusting words repeated in his head like an echo night after night. Even after waking up one morning to find the mark on his skin, he still had doubts. The mark itself only agitated him further; he traced it and traced it with his fingers but it frustrated him endlessly that he couldn’t figure out what his mark meant. His father had taken his sour words with him but Kamoshida had taken his place instead and he broke Ryuji’s spirit along with his bones. 

Meeting Akira had been a surprise. From the first sight, Ryuji felt something off about the new guy. Knowing that he was the ‘delinquent’ transfer student didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would; the only bothersome event of the day was failing to catch Ann before she drove away with _him_ and then ending up in that castle.

Watching Akira burst into flames and Arsene take shape just behind him is a sight that Ryuji would never forget. He was pretty sure he blacked out or something while Akira had been fighting but as soon as it was over and Arsene disappeared, that white mask affixed itself onto Akira’s face. 

His first priority was getting out of the castle. His second was deciding when to tell Akira about his mark; Ryuji knew he wasn’t bright but he knew the shape of his mask better than he knew himself. He _knew_ that Akira was his soulmate. He just didn’t expect to be Akira’s as well.

Ryuji didn’t know when his luck finally began to turn, but meeting the coolest, smartest, most handsome boy in Japan was probably the turning point he needed.

They said goodbye at the station before Akira had to go back to the coffee shop (Ryuji almost invited him over to spend the night once he learned his soulmate would be sleeping in a dusty old _attic_ but thought better of it in case Akira might end up in trouble with his guardian) but not before they took the time to take one last look at their marks. Just to remind themselves that this was real.

And maybe Akira sneaked a kiss to Ryuji’s cheek before he left. Ryuji cussed him out later while texting him. Akira sent back a heart emoji.

Sojiro had asked Akira why he had been so late coming home. His reason was “I met my soulmate today”.

(Sojiro yelled at him for coming up with such a lame excuse and sent him to bed but not before giving him a plate of curry for dinner and telling him to do his homework.)


End file.
